Hackers Revving Engines at Global Vehicle Cybersecurity Showdown 2025

Hackers Revving Engines at Global Vehicle Cybersecurity Showdown 2025

Summary

• The event: The Global Vehicle Cybersecurity Competition (VCC), run by VicOne and Block Harbor, is an online capture-the-flag contest for automotive security set for late summer 2025.
• Who can play: The competition is open to individuals of all skill levels, from first-time players to working professionals.
• Why now: Connected and software-defined vehicles add new attack paths, and the industry is short of people trained to defend them.
• What it covers: Red team offense and blue team defense challenges built around real vehicle components such as ECUs and CAN networks.

A Capture-the-Flag Contest for Car Security

Automotive cybersecurity firms VicOne and Block Harbor announced the Global Vehicle Cybersecurity Competition (VCC) in July 2025. It runs online in two rounds, August 22 to 25 and August 29 to September 1. The goal is practical. The companies want to train more people who can defend connected cars.

Inside the Challenges

Modern vehicles carry dozens of electronic control units (ECUs) that talk to each other over internal networks. That connectivity creates openings for attackers. The VCC challenges ask players to work through those openings, from cracking legacy defenses and spotting rogue messages on a controller area network (CAN) to reverse engineering firmware and threat modeling.

Red team challenges cover offense. Blue team challenges cover defense, such as blocking malicious firmware overwrites and protecting signing keys.

Who Is Taking Part

The contest is built for a mixed field. Players range from students and hobbyists to automotive engineers and security professionals who want to move into vehicle security. Participants earn Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits and compete for cash prizes, and the overall winner gets a trip to Pwn2Own Automotive 2026 in Tokyo.

For many players, it is a rare chance to practice on realistic car systems without needing access to a real vehicle.

What It Means for Carmakers and Drivers

The industry needs these skills badly. Carmakers must protect the older vehicles already on the road while also securing new software-defined models, and trained automotive security staff are scarce. Competitions like this one help build that talent pipeline.

For drivers, the payoff is indirect but real. More trained defenders should mean fewer exploitable flaws in the cars people drive every day.

The Takeaway

The Global VCC is a small but useful step. Vehicles now depend on software as much as on engines, and the people who secure that software need hands-on practice. Results are due after the final round closes on September 1.

Dan Evert, CCNP

Dan Evert is a self proclaimed Router Jockey. Dan got heavily involved in networking right out of high school and has never looked back! Dan is giving back by working with high school students to get them involved and interested in Networking and Security.